A deal to rubber-stamp an agreement for Welsh-language channel S4C to be funded mainly from the licence fee has been confirmed today.

A deal to rubber-stamp an agreement for Welsh-language channel S4C to be funded mainly from the licence fee has been confirmed today.

An operating agreement between S4C and the BBC Trust has been hammered out this month, following on from a decision by then-Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt in 2010 to radically alter the way the Welsh channel was funded, moving a vast chunk of direct state funding to the BBC’s budget.

Concerns had been raised in the wake of the decision that S4C’s editorial independence would be compromised by the arrangement, which also saw an immediate £2m reduction in the channel’s funding.

The agreement between the broadcaster and the BBC will ensure “editorial, managerial and operational independence of S4C”, the two sides said, while the two will form a partnership for non-editorial matters.

The BBC will contribute £76.3m in 2013-14, falling each year to £74.5m by 2016-17. In 2013-14 the BBC will also contribute £19.4m worth of programming.

It follows a public consultation process launched by the BBC Trust and S4C at the National Eisteddfod in 2011.

Processes will be introduced to ensure accountability to the BBC, though the S4C Authority will continue to be an independent statutory corporation, which will also receive funding from the UK Government and generate its own commercial revenues.

S4C’s chairman Huw Jones insisted the agreement provided security for the channel until 2017, with the new funding arrangements due to come in at the start of the next financial year at the beginning of April.

Speaking to the Western Mail, Mr Jones said there had been changing of the agreement’s wording to cement S4C’s editorial independence, following concerns from outside bodies.

He said the agreement would only allow BBC intervention in editorial matters in extreme cases where there had been a “material breach” of its remit.

He said: “I think there were very considerable concerns when the Government made its announcement in 2010 and it has been very important for us to conclude this process.

“It is indicative that the seriousness of it has been that it has taken two and a half years for the detail to be agreed and come into effect in April, and gives us four years of security for the greater part of our funding.

“It has to be important in the context of allowing programmes and production to go forward and allow credibility of the Welsh language to continue at a decent level.”

He said that the two bodies would work together to identify “efficiencies” to the operation, but said that the announcement should not be linked to the possibility of future job cuts.

He added: “The two bodies have a duty to look at the way things are done. It would be wrong to link this document to an inevitability that it would lead to redundancies.

“But you can never guarantee everything will stay the same going forward.”

Elan Closs Stephens, BBC National Trustee for Wales said: “My main priority is to help S4C to provide the best possible programmes for Welsh speaking audiences, while safeguarding S4C’s independence and ensuring that licence fee money is spent wisely.

“This enhanced partnership will build on the BBC’s commitment to the Welsh language since its earliest days and on the successes of the last thirty years of S4C and take Welsh language broadcasting into a confident creative future.”

Shadow Minister for Heritage Suzy Davies welcomed the announcement.

“S4C has a unique place in our economy and culture and its continued independence is absolutely paramount,” she said.

“The broadcaster remains our most popular source of news and sport through the medium of Welsh. The stability this agreement provides gives it the freedom to plan and commission, taking advantage of the talent in Wales’ creative industries.”

Liberal Democrat spokesman on heritage, Peter Black, said: “This agreement enshrines several key principles that were at the forefront of the campaign to maintain the independence of S4C, albeit within the BBC family.

“In particular I am pleased that it ensures the editorial, managerial and operational independence of S4C as well as provides financial stability until 2017.

“Wales needs an independent statutory corporation overseeing Welsh Language broadcasting, which is able to generate its own commercial revenues and this agreement delivers that.”

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